MTAA Super, the industry superannuation fund for the motor trades, today announced its support of RSE’s flagship RYDA Program – a series of practical and powerful workshops that aim to change the way young people think about road safety.

Coordinated with the assistance of Rotary Clubs, RYDA is delivered throughout Australia and New Zealand to over 50,000 high school students every year, through approximately 600 schools. To date over 500,000 students have attended the program since its inception.

MTAA Super, CEO Leeanne Turner said “We are pleased to be able to support RSE and RYDA in this important work. It is critical that young people understand the importance of road safety as early as possible. Given Australia’s vast size and diverse terrain, this will almost certainly be a skill they draw on again and again.”

"It’s heartening to have a trusted company like MTAA Super supporting our mission to reduce youth road trauma – especially when they are as passionate about road safety as we are. We are very pleased to welcome MTAA Super to our group of world leading partners including BOC, Toyota Australia and Bridgestone,” Mr Birss said.

“RYDA focuses on cognition development, building and increasing social competency and resilience and motivating low-risk behaviour. Our facilitators work with students to develop and practice personalised strategies which will help them respond positively to challenges on the road, both as drivers and highly influential passengers.”

When RYDA was initiated in March 2001, Australia had just reported an annual road toll of 1,817 deaths, including 487 people aged 17-25. However, last year, the road toll stood at 1,295 deaths, with 264 in the 17-25 age bracket.

“While these statistics show a 28% decrease in the overall road toll, they importantly show an encouraging 46% decrease in the 17-25 age group” said Mr Birss.

“We believe that these statistics provide additional evidence that the Graduated Licensing Scheme (GLS) for novice drivers and an increased focus on youth driver education through programs such as RYDA is certainly having a very significant impact in helping to save young lives on our roads.

MTAA Super is a Canberra-based industry superannuation fund with over 240,000 members and $10.8 billion in funds under management. It was awarded the prestigious 2017Medium Fund of the Year Award at the Conexus Financial Superannuation Awards.